


A Wing And A Prayer

by zephalien



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angel Blood, Angel Wings, Blood and Gore, Hell, Near Death, Other, Wings, gabriel is himbo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:56:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zephalien/pseuds/zephalien
Summary: Gabriel gets injured by rebelling angels. Hellish hurt/comfort hijinks ensue.There's quite a lot of blood angel and otherwise so umm... fair warning.





	A Wing And A Prayer

"I'd reconsider if I were you." They said smugly.  
The rebel angel just smirked. Behind them wings sprung from every angle and the angels all lunged forward.

It's the last thing Gabriel recalls clearly before pain and darkness muddled everything. They don't remember much of their escape except the frantic attempts to call upon Sandalaphon or Micheal. Uriel was with Micheal but they couldn't make contact with either. Sandalaphon was taking care of something on Earth. They were alone.

They crashed down like they were falling and they knew the only place they might possibly be safe now. They were already headed the right direction anyway.

They summoned all the energy they had and disappeared in a strike of lightning that took out some of their pursuers with its force. A sharp pain accompanied the appearance of the lightning, but they had escaped and that's all that mattered.

Beelzebub was reading the long list of human deeds making ugly doodles of vicars in the margins. Ze wasn't focusing much but ze didn't really need to at the moment. Hell was having a pretty slow day today, a rarity.

Ze jumped up our of zir chair instantly when the lightning struck. It was like an electrical storm and an explosion at the same time in the next room. That was the room Beelzebub kept some of zir favorite torture devices in.  
The sound of the room shaking and bursting with electricity was almost deafening.

"What the fuck!" Beelzebub said reflexively as ze rushed toward the noise. Ze was never one to cower, preferring to rush toward danger never away.  
"What.. the... fuck.." Ze said slowly once in the doorway and could see the sight of the smoldering angel on the ground.  
Gabriel looked up unrecognizably inhuman and heart stopping not just for their beauty but because of the nightmarish wounds they sported on their whole form.  
Gabriel grinned devilishly handsome, despite half their face being ripped away exposing the angelic form underneath, "Hello little prince."  
Beelzebub bristled at the jab but more from anxiety. An angel like Gabriel appearing torn apart and suddenly in zir chambers wasn't good news, despite what the average demon might think. Unrest in heaven was bad for hell and Gabriel didn't look fallen. In fact, their wounds and tears at their human body were exposing their true angelic nature freely. Beelzebub had to only look to see that they remained holy despite their current locale and the state of them.

"You shouldn't be here!" Beelzebub said anxiously, "What- why- just- WHAT!"

"Sorry to drop in unannounced." Gabriel snarked before a groan ripped through their body (or the remaining pieces of it) and they curled in on themself and pressed their forehead into the ground.  
Beelzebub didn't move, uncertain.  
"That was a terrible joke." Ze deadpanned, more to give zirself time to think than anything.  
"Yeah well.. so. are. you." Gabriel gasped out as their body seemed to jolt with pain.

"Would you shut up for once. No wonder someone tried to kill you." Beelzebub moved forward to where Gabriel lay with their face, both human and so unearthly now, pressing hard into the ground. Gabriel's arms and one wing was wrapped tight around their torso. One wing hung limply away from them though at an odd angle.  
"Those.. fucking. Morons." Gabe breathed out struggling. "Micheal is going to be so pissed."  
"Hmm" Beelzebub hummed noncommitally. Micheal wasn't a very trustworthy angel in zir opinion, but ze tried to keep zir opinions of heaven to zirself.  
Beelzebub dropped to zir knees heavily and reached zir hands out shakily to where Gabriel was clutching their chest.  
Gabe, eyes closed, felt the touch on their hands and whimpered pitifully.  
"Don't." They pleaded desperately.  
"Move your arms before I pull them off." Beelzebub threatened. Their form was deteriorating around their angelic form anyway. If Gabriel held on with human hands it'd only make the pain worse when the body finally reached its end. Beelzebub assumed the flesh was still even surviving now because of Gabriel's power holding it together. Beelzebub knew if they held onto the form it would tear apart their angelic form underneath.  
Beelzebub failed to pull Gabriel's hands and wing away and realized this was going to be dirtier work than ze had hoped.  
Ze pulled zirself up and shed zir humanoid form as ze rose. Ze usually wore a human looking outer form in hell because it saved on space, but Gabriel didn't need soft human forms. They needed the full power of the Prince of Hell and ze was here to give it to them.

"This is going to hurt you much much more than it hurts me." Ze warned as ze unsheathed zir claws.  
Gabriel nodded painfully without opening their eyes. Their face was sweating and pale where the human form remained. It would only be a matter of time if Beelzebub hesitated long.  
Ze didn't.  
Ze tore into the flesh that hung gruesomely off the angel and ripped away Gabriel's arms (as promised).  
Ze moved onto the face next. The handsome human features sliding away easily under demonic pressure to reveal the grimace of an angel underneath.  
The contact stung Beelzebub's skin at each touch. A true demon form and a true angel form weren't compatible materials and the contact was blasphemous.  
Beelzebub tried in vain to limit the touches but the searing pain was soon covering zir arms as if it was leaking from the angel.  
Gabriel barely moved during the process even when Beelzebub pressed an arm into their chest to rip away the flesh and sinew clinging to them there. They didn't even register the pain of zir touch or the bones breaking away.  
Beelzebub squashed zir worry at that. Ze had been correct then in assuming these were wounds from fellow angels and Gabriel's pain was deeper than ze had imagined especially if they didn't even react to a flesh form being ripped away this way not to mention the demon's touch.  
As Beelzebub pulled the last of it away, Gabriel let out a sound that was part gasp and part whimper. Beelzebub pointedly ignored the small sobs that forced their way out of Gabriel now.  
Gabriel was trying to curl in on themself further but Beelzebub grabbed their arms and pulled them away to assess the damage, ignoring the holy burns searing their way into Beelzebub's demonic form.  
Gabriel's face was wounded but that was obviously not the source of the pain.  
There were gashes along their whole form but most notably a long tear along their abdomen.  
It started high on their torso and down to their middle where the human belly would be if they were still contained in flesh.  
The angel's blood was a deep violet and spilled freely onto the floor mixing with the human blood and flesh that had fallen away.  
Beelzebub had hoped Gabriel could heal these wounds once freed from their flesh but it didn't seem likely and if Beelzebub did anything using hell's means it would only agitate the wounds further.  
Beelzebub begrudgingly pressed Gabriel back down from where ze had been half holding them in zir lap.  
Beelzebub looked at zirself not minding the human blood but the violet would catch attention in hell.  
Ze plunged zir hands into the bloody dead flesh to cover the violet. It wouldn't really cover the color but the mixture at least looked more muddy than purple now. It would have to do.  
"No.." Gabriel whimpered vaguely.  
"I'm not just going to leave you, you jackass. Just wait there." Beelzebub said abruptly. Ze wasn't good at this kind of thing. Ze had been more patient as an angel, but the fall must have torn a part of zir away that could be gentle or caring. Gabriel grimaced but nodded ascent.  
Beelzebub rushed off down some damp corridors and through winding musty old tunnels. Ze turned a corner sharply and came upon some demons smoking in a clump. They were slacking off of work just like ze had been before the interruption and normally ze would smirk at them or take pleasure in tossing them into the depths of the pit, but not today.  
"What are you lot up to then?!" Ze roared at the clump. They were in the way. "Pissing about!?"  
The demons cowered slightly afraid to not show deference to their lord but also afraid to show weakness. They weren't used to seeing the prince of hell in full demonic form and towering over them and they knew Beelzebub had been hard at work by the blood dripping off zir.  
"Well??" Beelzebub roared when no one answered, "Get on with you!"  
They scattered instantly and Beelzebub resumed zir brisk pace until ze came upon Dagon's office.  
Dagon was, as always, working at her desk while her underlings scampered about underfoot. The underlings Dagon kept were always properly terrified, something Dagon took great pride in. Dagon was a demon who did everything by the book, if such a book existed that is.  
Beelzebub would have been the one to write that book or Satan obviously, but if anyone had bothered to write it, this situation would definitely not have been approved.  
Beelzebub still felt the wrongness of holding a holy thing in the burns on zir arms.  
"Dagon. Go to earth and bring me golden twine." Beelzebub said.  
Ze had calculated the question carefully and gold was the only material that would help an angel, was a relatively acceptable thing to ask for, and that Beelzebub couldn't conjure zirself.  
Dagon, thankfully, wasn't a demon who asked question. Dagon simply obeyed orders, Beelzebub's orders at least. If the prince of hell asked then Dagon would do.  
"I can send an errand boy out shortly. I just need to-" Dagon began to say practically.  
"No." Beelzebub said evenly. The monotonous drone of zir voice even more deadly and toneless than normal. Ze couldn't show an inch of the internal storm as ze had to the lesser demons. Dagon would know better than them. Dagon would pay attention.  
"You are to go yourself. Now. I require it for an important project. I will be waiting here. In your office. For your return." Beelzebub deadpanned with a hint of challenge to zir voice. Dagon liked a chance to impress Beelzebub and ze hoped she would take the opportunity without thinking about why.  
"Of course, sir!" Dagon said a bit excitedly. "It would be my pleasure."  
She rushed through a few details but Beelzebub cut her off.  
"Just the thread. Go now. I'll be waiting." Beelzebub warned.  
Ze was loathe to stand in the office waiting but there was nothing for it. If Dagon was allowed near Beelzebub's chambers then she might hear things or sense them. It was safer to keep her far away from where Gabriel had fallen.  
Not fallen, Beelzebub corrected zirself, crashed.  
Dagon was back quickly, probably only a few minutes on earth tops. She must have popped into a shop and nabbed a spool because she placed a giant industrial spool of twine in front of her lord proudly.  
"My apologies for the delay. I had to disembowel a security gaurd." She said by way of explanation. "I hope its to your liking."  
Beelzebub nodded briskly, "Yes. Acceptable."  
Ze grabbed the spool and, after a scuffle where Dagon tried to insist on having an underling carry it, Beelzebub was off.  
As ze made zir way back to zir chambers, ze heard a low rumbling. A growl, Beelzebub realized.  
Ze opened the door and realized it must be Gabriel. Beelzebub didn't have time to be grateful that horrifying noises were common in hell because ze was rushing forward after catching sight of Gabriel.  
Gabriel was ... bleeding. The angelic violet blood was oozing out of their mouth and nose at the corners and dripping from pores.  
If ze had doubted that Gabriel was seriously injured before, this would have cleared it up. Ze had never seen an angel die slowly.  
Ze didn't intend to today either.  
Rushing forward Beelzebub dropped the spool heavily near Gabriel and haphazardly unraveling a long strand of the gold and jolting forward. The tall spool dropped sideways with a loud thud and Gabriel jolted away from the sound. They seemed to be trying to push or claw themself away from Beelzebub and the source of the noise.  
"Quit moving, you stupid angel." Beelzebub said rushing them and pinning them down firmly but carefully.  
They stopped moving at Beelzebub's touch, seeming to recognize it as such. A heavy shaken breath escaped their maw.  
Beelzebub squashed the worry that brought out and went to work.  
Ze had forgotten a needle and knew that going back for one now wasn't an option.  
Ze decided quickly that this would be messier than anticipated and grabbed a weapon off the wall. It was blackened from the lightning but intact.  
It was an old weapon from the 16th century. It was one of Beelzebub's collection of morningstars, a homage to the king. This one was zir most prized because it resembled an aspergillum. The humans had dubbed it the holy water sprinkler. A name that was both hilarious and so on the nose that when ze had discovered it ze laughed for many moments before murdering the weilder to claim it for zirself.  
The tip was long and thin enough, ze hoped, to work for zir purposes. Ze wrapped a clawed hand around the spiked head ignoring the spikes driving through zir palm. The wounds were from a mortal item and barely noticable, especially compared to the burns from touching Gabriel and the pain that leaked off Gabriel themself.  
Beelzebub looked longingly at the morningstar for a moment, a lovely prize, and then snapped the tip off of it. It was too thick for a human but Gabriel's angel form was large and ze hoped that it wouldn't add too much damage, though the way Gabriel looked it didn't seem possible.  
Beelzebub turned to Gabriel again who was doing significantly less thrashing and screaming now. Ze absently wrapped the gold thread tightly around the spike while inspecting them seriously.  
The wounds were starting to heal but they looked wrong. The silvery sheen to the angel skin sunk into deep dark welts where the violet blood congealed dangerously around a raging infected looking gash. The actual wound itself seemed to be turning a deep midnight blue color. It wasn't like humans who just turned red or gross. This was horrific and wrong. It didn't look like Gabriel was getting better either. The stillness and shuddered breaths even more ominous than the screaming and growling had been.  
They can't heal wounds inflicted by angels, Ze realized and zir hand went to a scar ze had long forgotten on zir own shoulder. The wounds from fellow angels became poison to your blood, ze remembered belatedly.  
Gabriel was infected by their own kin. Beelzebub grew furious in that moment. Why did the angels attack them? They just needed more power, didn't they? Stupid feathered beasts. They all knew nothing of heaven and hell to be so moronic to attack their protector. Gabriel was the reason that whole place hadn't dropped into Beelzebub's domain.  
Beelzebub discarded the spike and thread next to zir and gathered Gabriel in zir arms.  
Gabriel's eyes fluttered open. Their silvery skin was dull and gray and they weren't as sun warmed and soft as Beelzebub remembered.  
"Ga-Gabe." Beelzebub said uncertainly.  
"Yez ..sszzir?" Gabriel mumbled out painfully.  
"I don't know if this will work." Beelzebub confessed though ze knew Gabriel wasn't going to understand this statement.  
"Z .. ok," Gabriel muttered gently. They were staring at Beelzebub and the prince of hell felt small and anxious under the scrutiny.  
"Stop looking at me like that." Beelzebub pleaded harshly.  
"Cant... help.. " Gabriel's voice petered to a whisper and they closed their eyes. They had exhausted themself with the talking but they remained living... for now.  
"I just... I... I..." Beelzebub couldn't find words to say despite the overwhelming impulse to say something to them, anything.  
Gabriel smiled though and raised a hand from gripping their belly to grab Beelzebub's hand from where it was pressed against their face.  
Beelzebub let the moment last for a few precious seconds before laying Gabriel down again.  
"Prepare for hell." Beelzebub said with a hint of humor and a lot of uncertainty and finally released Gabriel's hand. It dropped to the floor heavily.  
Beelzebub pressed both palms to either side of the long gash across the angel's torso and leaned forward and bit.  
Ze tasted the poisoned angelic tissue easily. A hot metallic meat tingling and burning like lava as the infected blood streamed down Beelzebub's face. Ze tore it out and bit down looking for every bit of infection. The wound reopened with force and the violet blood flowed freely along with the blue infected tissue.  
It hurt badly, but Beelzebub had felt pain before. This was unimaginable but the prince of hell wasn't unfamiliar to burning.  
The violet blood seered zir and the boils ze sported rose and bubbled and burst at its touch. Ze instinctively sought out the worst of the infection and tore it away almost in fear of the violet blood reaching more of zir skin, if ze felt fear obviously.  
It took a long time. Too long. The wound was cleaned but the violet blood spilling around them both was pooling dangerously. Ze didn't know how long Gabriel could survive.  
Beelzebub took up the sewing now, frantically, while Gabriel whimpered at every press of the spike into their body. The spike itself burned them but the golden thread held up. Beelzebub was relieved. Ze had feared that the gold wouldn't work or would fall apart or being gifted by demons would increase the pain. Gabriel's wound, now finally stitched (if poorly), seemed to be starting to pull itself together in response to the effort put forth by the prince.  
Beelzebub sighed in relief and a frantic laugh bubbled up from zir gut. Gabriel was still so ashen and unmoving though so ze began work on the other wounds.  
Ze carefully carved the dead tissue away with claws on the angel's cheek and it felt almost intimate. Well, if Gabriel wasn't unconcious from pain it might have been intimate at least.  
The rest of the wounds on Gabriel's front were taken care of now and it was time for Beelzebub to see what the other angels had done to their wing. The wing had been splayed painfully out underneath Gabriel most of this time despite the other wing curled protectively around Gabriel then pulled in when Beelzebub had removed it from Gabe's torso.  
The other wing looked yanked at the wrong angle and Beelzebub was nervous to assess the damage. Ze did regardless. An archangel needs two wings, after all. What's an angel with one wing?  
Beelzebub stood and circled Gabriel. Ze kneeled and took a deep breath before rolling Gabriel slightly forward to see where their wings connected to their back.  
Now Beelzebub realized why Gabriel had barely paid it attention while rolling to and fro on the floor. It was almost fully severed from the socket. The wing was barely a body part anymore. Gabriel could probably not even feel the extent of the injury.  
Beelzebub tried in vain to thread gold through the broken wing or to force the thing to reattach. Beelzebub was starting to become frantic in zir efforts and the burns from the blood Gabriel shed was still seering into zir. Ze just needed to fix them. Gabriel was an arch angel. They needed their wings. They needed them.  
Gabriel started to stir and Beelzebub was fully panicking now. It wasn't working. The wing wasn't going back together and Gabriel was waking up which meant they would move and damage it further. Ze started, oh so shamefully, to sob. It wasn't right. It wasn't good. Angels were supposed to love each other, not kill each other. Gabriel needed to be healed. Gabriel needed to be safe.  
Gabriel stirred once more and Beelzebub collapsed forward pressing zir face desperately into their back.  
"Don't move, Gabe. Please. Please. It's not- I can fix it. I can fix you Please." Beelzebub sobbed. Ze was disgusted with zirself and horrified but it was so- So wrong!  
Gabriel moved again and the prince of hell's vision swam as purple eyes turned toward zir. A look of... Love.  
Then Beelzebub passed out.

~~~~~

Beelzebub opened zir eyes but didn't move. The burning overwhelming pain was still ebbing and leaving zir. Ze felt a soothing trickling around zir skin and wiggled zir hands a little and recognized the sensation as water. Ze finally lifted zir head and torso and looked around. In front of Beelzebub was, miraculously, the river Stix.  
"How-" Beelzebub blurted spacily. It didn't make sense.  
"I brought us here." Gabriel said from behind Beelzebub and ze turned abruptly.  
Gabriel was standing and wringing their hands uncertainly. Ze almost laughed seeing the nervous gesture from the angel. It looked odd with the base angel form on display. Gabriel rarely stepped out of the human suit just like Beelzebub and ze wasn't used to seeing them this way.  
"We could have been seen." Beelzebub hissed, as if ze really cared about that now. The demons rarely even came around this part of hell.  
"Doubtful." Gabe laughed. "I do recall you complaining about your demons shirking their watch duties along the shores."  
Their eyes sparkled with mirth, always glad for a chance to point out hell's deficiencies. Beelzebub wasn't in the mood for their competitive games right now though.  
Ze remembered the moments before blacking out and curled zir shoulders a bit. "Your wings..."  
Gabriel shuffled awkwardly and their shoulders pulled inward in a mirror of Beelzebub's anxious gesture.  
Beelzebub couldn't help but stare at the space where the other wing should be. Gabriel's wing ruffled a little at the attention. They were hyper aware of where Beelzebub's gaze was drawn.  
"It's gone. Pulled it off after I realized it couldn't be reattached." Gabriel said briskly, turning their head away. "Left it in your chambers. Sorry."  
Beelzebub shook zir head and shivered a bit thinking of the broken wing laying in the messy chamber. "It's fine." Ze lied.  
Gabriel stepped forward then hesitated. Beelzebub was still weakened from playing doctor to the angel and they didn't want to hurt zir further.  
Beelzebub was the one who reached out then and Gabriel met zir wild grasp with an earnestness they would have denied zir at another moment.  
The demon prince and archangel clung to each other fiercely for a long moment before Gabriel stepped away.  
"I shouldn't have come here." They said softly before turning abruptly.  
They seemed to be taking account of the space around them and was heading toward likely points of exit.  
"SHOULDN'T HAVE-" Beelzebub roared.  
"Bee-" Gabriel attempted to say, but Beelzebub was on them in a second. There was a fury in the prince that could have made even heaven's highest angels quiver in fear. Gabriel leveled an even gaze upon Beelzebub as ze shook them.  
"Don't give me your holy schtick right now. You would have died without me. Angels are attacking you, of all things!"  
"Beelze-" Gabriel tried again.  
"No!" Beelzebub roared. "You almost died. You don't get to play the fucking leader right now. If I save you, that choice is mine. Don't pretend I am a victim of your poor planning."  
The way Beelzebub spat the last word would have betrayed zir true emotions even if ze hadn't been so tranparent.  
"Beelzebub," Gabriel said softly and Beelzebub didn't interrupt. "I have a duty to-"  
"To Her." Beelzebub said accusing.  
"To Her." Gabriel agreed solemnly.  
"Lot of good it seems to do you." Beelzebub mumbled, knowing the argument was lost now regardless.  
Gabriel softened. They reached for Beelzebub again. The prince of hell recieved the archangel Gabriel's arms which wrapped zir in a tight hold. Ze wrapped one hand around Gabriel's arm in acknowledgement of the gesture.  
The two held each other for longer now, Gabriel no longer trying to pretend or maintain any sense of propriety. Beelzebub was never the kind of demon to back down or run away. This would be no different. Gabriel knew that now. The problem, Beelzebub knew, was that Gabriel was the same way.  
Beelzebub released Gabriel and watched as a lightning bolt struck and Gabriel was gone.  
~~~~~~

Gabriel appeared in their office and stepped, effortless, into a new body. The clothes of their human body instantly fresh and beautiful. Nothing amiss besides one conspicuously missing wing, but no one needed to know that now. Gabriel had work to do.


End file.
